Snopes checked AOC's claim Danish McDonald's paying over 20 bucks an hour...

[TreasonousBastard]

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mcdonalds-workers-denmark/

There is no minimum wage there, but there is a pretty good union

The agreement with McDonalds does not only include salary per. hour and 6 weeks holiday. There is extra charge for evening and night work. Payment for seniority, holiday payment (Easter and Christmas for example, (100%), on top of all payment there is an extra 6.85%, Pension plan for employees from the age of 20 (12%).

The 3F union rep told us that agreements are renewed every few years. The most recent agreement from 2020 has McDonald’s employees over the age of 18 earning a minimum of DKK 127,24 (about $20.59) per hour, with a slight increase in 2021 (DKK 129,74 or about $21 per hour) and 2022 (DKK 132,24 or $21.40).

And everyone gets 5 weeks vacation by law. McD's employees get an extra week.

And, about prices?

Another point that is often raised when comparing McDonald’s wages in Denmark vs. the United States is how much these wages impact menu prices. While we can’t provide any exact figures here, we can say that the change in price isn’t extreme. A review by The New York Times, for instance, found that Big Macs cost “about 27 cents more on average in Denmark than in the United States.” But according to the “Big Mac Index” from the Economist, a Big Mac costs 76 cents less in “Denmark (US $4.90) than in the United States (US$5.66) at market exchange rates.”

Magic, right?

[live love laugh]

1. $15 an hour has been on the table nearly 10 years ... it should be $20 here too. nt

[Efilroft Sul]

18. +1

The "Fight for $15" minimum wage movement began in 2012. Adjusted for inflation, that figure would now be $17.

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, enacted in 2009. Adjusted for inflation, that figure would now be $8.80. But its buying power is now only worth $5.99 in 2021.

Long story short, people are overdue for a substantial pay raise. It's more meaningful than some token pip-pip cheer honoring them as "essential workers."

[Bev54]

22. Denmark is an expensive country to live in

with much higher taxes.

[niyad]

28. And a much better social safety net, including health care.

[Bev54]

29. Yes, you actually get something for your taxes

I am Canadian and we also have safety nets and healthcare but our taxes are less. I almost moved to Denmark but found that the taxes were just a bit stifling. I think because they have only 6 million people, they pay more to get what they need. Lovely country though and good people.

[pansypoo53219]

39. very good heath care. i had an elderly danish epal + he visited america for a month in 2012.

he got sick from his plane trip to nyc + spents a day or 2 in the hospital. did nyc/dc/chicago + then here. he had to call denmark to square up his bennies. bill paid. we got paid for the phone call. he got money for missed vacation time.
later he was in the hospital for weeks w/ pneumonia. he doesn't have a car. paid for a taxi. came to his home to make sure it was safe + easy for him.
i also got a visit in an elder home in dk. very homey. + staff brought our group a sandwich plater so we could make FANCY sandwiches.
denmark is awesome.

SHIT! the drug dealer i encountered in a park was polite.

[soldierant]

34. My statement has not been checked by Snopes

(although I suspect it would stand up), but everything I have read suggests that, if you add up what you as an American spend on basically everything, including taxes, and then compared that with what a similar Dane spends on everything, including taxes, you wold find that it's the United States which is expensive.

Health care alone - countless studies have demonstrated that is is much less expensive to deliver through a single payer (government) system than through insurance and copays, let alone with no insurance.

[Bev54]

36. I don't know about Denmark but I think it is certainly true compared to Canada

[soldierant]

42. I'm pretty sure of that too.

I used Denmark because it was the nation cited by AOC in the firat place - and I've heard happy Danes discuss it on Rick Steves. I would probably also add Iceland to thet. And I'm sure there are more.

[BobTheSubgenius]

38. Yet Danes are very happy to be there.

They seem to find good value in how their taxes are used...rather like we Canadians that think our situations
through.

[malaise]

45. It is not - those taxes are used for many benefits to citizens

Denmark works - my oldest sibling has lived there for 50+ years

[Bev54]

59. Yes they are used for benefits

My ex is from Denmark and we were looking to move to Denmark to take over the family farm, but the taxes were one of the big parts of our decision not to do so. He is quite happy he stayed in Canada, even though he still visits and misses friends and family. All I am saying is we, in Canada, have many of the same benefits but our taxes are not so restrictive.

[DBoon]

58. slavery makes thing cheaper

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Every time someone takes a close look at how raising

the wages of restaurant workers would affect menu prices, the amount is trivial.

[Warpy]

5. The same thing is true for farm workers.

The rise in prices would be minimal. The improvement in their lives would be massive.

What the super wealthy who think they own us don't realize is that they wouldn't hurt if the rest of us got treated fairly. Their net worth might be lower without all those tax cuts going directly to the stock market, but their earnings on those stocks would be much higher.

They'd never miss a meal, in other words.

Controlling inflation by increasing human misery hasn't worked, inflation is built into fiat currency and there is still inflation, no matter how they try to deny it. The problem is getting them to admit their dogma has failed without either a crash or a revolution, probably both.

[Mister Ed]

3. I would gladly, gratefully pay a little more for my Big Mac ..

...so that the people behind the counter busting their ass to prepare and serve it to me won't have to live in poverty.

And you know what? I betcha that 27 cents or whatever per burger comes back to me in the improved economy that results.

Still, there are many here in the U.S. who want the 27 cents instead.

[louis-t]

35. The people in Texas wanted that 27 cents a day they saved on their power bill.

Look where it got them.

[groundloop]

4. So, again, corporate America is lying to us

A review by The New York Times, for instance, found that Big Macs cost “about 27 cents more on average in Denmark than in the United States.” But according to the “Big Mac Index” from the Economist, a Big Mac costs 76 cents less in “Denmark (US $4.90) than in the United States (US$5.66) at market exchange rates.”

In other words in the US corporate owners and franchisees would rather keep more for themselves than to see their employees earn a living wage, whereas in Denmark (and most other countries) workers earn a decent wage and everyone thrives.

[Grokenstein]

6. "It's just not right!"

"That poor, helpless money is circulating in the economy, being handled by you filthy disgusting Poors, when I could have it locked safely away in an offshore account!! The way God intended!!"

[tikka]

7. In Australia in 2014 the minimum wage was $18.70 Au. The price of a Big Mac was the same as here.

[movingviolation]

8. The republican party exists for one reason...

To hose labor out of what is rightfully theirs, the fruits of ones own labor, and keep it for themselves, the "owner class".
They have made us the laughing stock of, and receiver of pity from, the civilized world. They think they can maintain power by forcing us into fascism, but they will overplay their hand, and the backlash must be nothing short of justice.

[KPN]

9. Capitalism done right. That's what it is and we

should use that phrase as our standard response to derogatory use (actually misuse) of the word “socialism”.

Socialism? Nope. Capitalism done right.

[Hestia]

40. Can't figure out how to a pic right now but

socialism = the fire dept. saving your house

capitalism = the insurance company denying your claim

[IronLionZion]

10. yeah but they have socialism crushing their freedoms

by giving those fast food workers free healthcare. It really kills jobs over there.

I've actually seen conservatives make the argument that they can afford all that over there because they spend way less on defense than we do.

[lookyhereyou]

12. and we should spend way less on defense and fix what needs fixing.

nt

[TwilightZone]

17. Denmark isn't socialist.

People keep making that claim. It still isn't true. The Nordic model is not socialist. Denmark has a mixed economy with a market basis.

To cut off a common response, democratic socialism and socialism are not interchangeable terms, either.

[Wounded Bear]

20. Did you read his post, or just the title? It's called sarcasm...nt

[PatrickforB]

11. Dang. Of course, the problem here is the shareholder primacy doctrine.

Heck, we cannot overpay our workers here to this extent, because every dollar 'wasted' on excessive pay or benefits, is a dollar less for the shareholders. Paying people right simply deprives these 'job creators' from profits to which they are entitled as shareholders...

Sigh.

[SammyWinstonJack]

23. Shareholders...🤑

[PatrickforB]

24. LOL. To be fair, though, many people have pension monies invested in

the equities markets, and that's OK. I'm just saying that compelling corporations to hold the interests of workers, consumers, communities, and the environment as being equally valuable to shareholder profits would be a really good idea. A stakeholder, rather than a shareholder, model.

[George II]

13. Denmark uses the Danish Krone, not the dollar, for their currency.

[TreasonousBastard]

14. True, but the Times converted to dollars.

[speak easy]

21. The Danish Krone? Yikes.

[George II]

26. The best American thoroughbred jockey was Julie Krone (she's retired now)

[niyad]

31. A Crone, in Wiccan (Wicce, craft of the Wise) tradition, is an elder, regarded as a Wise Woman.

The Trinity is Maiden, Mother, Crone. The

[Hestia]

41. in addition, it generally thought be a female who has reached her 2nd Saturn's Return,

generally around the age of 56. Yeah, I can be a demon when pushed but I ain't no full time demon, too much dedication and ain't got time for all requirements

[niyad]

46. Thank you. Thought I had included the Saturn Return information, but not. And the second part of

your post most definitely applies to me!

[cilla4progress]

48. Here!

Oh...just clocking in for crone attendance.

A crone and proud of it!!!

[niyad]

54. Excellent. Thought you were going to be late there for a minute.

[speaknow]

15. Wage are low and the Govt hasn't increase the min wage because

they don't have to. With all the Companies that left the US for cheaper
wages, that under cut wages in the US. Because most companies
became global. they don't need the American worker. Because of
that they don't have to pay a living wage. They don't need us anymore
we have become Obsolete! Thank you Congress for doing nothing
to save American jobs. Worst is the US companies have no loyalty
to the US. As far as unions go well they can help the workers as lon
as they are not Company Unions.

[bucolic_frolic]

16. When I first read the headline, I thought Danish McDonald was an actual guy

"So, da-NISH, you pay pretty good, how do you do it?"

[cilla4progress]

49. Awesome...

you mean like Dinesh DeSouza?

[MontanaMama]

19. The starting wage at either of my two businesses is $18

per hour and nobody stays at that wage for long. All of our full time employees are at least $24+ per hour in additional to a personalized benefit package we negotiate with them. I hired a new part time kid a couple weeks ago and just did payroll for everyone...his wages barely changed our bottom line. It almost isn't even noticeable. Indeed, its magic!!

[PatrickforB]

25. Probably good for employee retention, too.

So many things out of balance...sigh. Good for you for being a decent employer.

[cilla4progress]

50. Now THAT

is a goddess move!

[MontanaMama]

52. Or a mama move...

They’re all my work babies...even the ones who are older than I am! People need to feel they are cared about.

[cilla4progress]

53. I love it.

See, this is why I love being a crone. I feel myself "birthing" a lot of folks coming up in my fledgling, controversial profession (I'm a non-attorney with a license to practice law - a Limited License Legal Technician; 2nd in my state, Washington - first state to license non-attorneys to practice law).

Anyway - I wasn't always so nice and wise. Mother energy ROCKS!!!

[MontanaMama]

55. Mother energy DOES rock, my friend.

I feel like I didn’t really hit my stride until after 50. It’s very good.

[P-Nutt]

27. It Is Now The Time For Someone

To start organizing a nationwide general strike that will stop all US commerce until the minimum wage is raised to $15.00 per hour with annual $1.00 raises until it reaches $20.00 per hour. Since big business owns the right wing politicians, and keeps Congress from raising it legislatively, it is time to take it to the streets and bring these robber barons to heel. As for Mom & Pop, they will also reap the rewards in the form of increased spending. Profit margins may shrink, but bottom line gains in sales will skyrocket.

[58Sunliner]

30. Amazing what we could have here if big business didn't pull the strings.

WTF

[Hestia]

43. Like I told my niece to never forget how, during the pandemic, they blatantly

came out and told us we are a decimal point in their stock prices and worth only pennies on the dollar as our intransient value.

Even the Mom & Pop's say that - they have to open up so they can make money. There is always the invisible hand of free market and their business needs to go on list about them pushing us go out spend money like "all of this" never happened.

[58Sunliner]

57. Yes, the tools of capitalism.

[mrsadm]

32. Denmark is not a good comparison to the U.S.

They have free health care, free college education, free bicycles for transportation, and many other social programs. They and other Nordic countries cannot be compared to the U.S. Then again they don’t have our freedoms or guns.

[TreasonousBastard]

33. Yes, and a big chunk of that 20 bucks an hour goes to taxes to pay for that stuff...

But, the point is that there is no natural law of God or man that declares wages must be minimal.

[JoeOtterbein]

37. K n R !

Thanks for posting!

[TomWilm]

44. The average total income tax in Denmark is around 34 percent, but ...

... add to this that we Danes do not need expensive health insurance and do not pay for education
etc. I believe we have the better benefits for the buck!

[cilla4progress]

51. Exactly -

it's about VALUE, not arbitrary "cost".

Why is this so hard???

[mainer]

47. $18 for a Big Mac in Norway

When I travel, that's the standard I use to compare cost of living in other countries, the price of a Big Mac. Yet there were people waiting in line for them, so it doesn't bother them any.

[malthaussen]

56. The Economist's "Big Mac Index" is one of the great tools of economics. :)